MUSIC ON THE SABBATH

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 399, 7 January 1909, Page 9

MUSIC ON THE SABBATH

NEW LAW IN SYDNEY. / Mr. Lewis do Groen; the conductor-of: the : .well-known, military .band which bears his siamfc,, arrived from Sydney- by the. Jlnrania ; -yesterday, and to a Dominion reported ohat- • ; ted; interestingly-about matters musical in the Mother State's capital.: Do.Groen'sband ■ is,an institution in the Harbour City, and . when in full blast -is an organisation' worth / going a long way to -jiear. When all-out, it/has a membership of 64. instrumentalists.: over half of. whom depend on their musical engagements-with-de Groen for a living. ."My band," said Mr., de Groen, "is not a brass band or an orchestra. It is a full military band, constituted on the same' lines as the band of ■ the Grenadier Guards ui London, and we play the best class of mUßic ■. as well as popular.pieces."■ -i '' Brass Bands. ■ "Aro you subsidised in any. way?" . ' "No, not a ha-p6nny l . If the Sydney ': ' Council coujd Ibe .indupedf to. spend, the £1000' : voted. forsubsidies .to''.' musio in the proper direction—and when I say that I mean on a : first-class military band—it would go a long way towards educating the public: to a. better appreciation of good music. Instead of that they give £5 here: and £5- thrco to • little borough brass bands, which are not. :. really bands at: all.; A' musical* groiind.whioh : aibrass band can cover-is very limited,: and ,7 its cannot - '; attempt. to ' play, of the highest standard-because the. compass of ; the.-instruments is restricted, and I advocate, that .the bands horo ■■ should go in more for, reeds', get out of the alUbrass rut, and open the way to better things musically. Thocoi- . net: is all? very well in its .place, but_ it can-1 not. compare;- with -the iclariuet, which can i do; all a violin- can do. ' What varying, tone | . jou;^can; get : : with- .the^ass ■ and reeds in.'combination;"- > . i .i-> ■- ; . v.'.l Take the' Besses: o' tho.-Bam Band.- I'll -tell you a little story. One day I received, ■:.through Messrs,''-'Nich6lson..arid Co;, of Sydney, a telegram from Messrs.: J. and N.. Tait asking-for- the use - of. my parts of Tfichailiowsky's "1812" Overture. ■ I' said I;would be' : - only too willing . to. "lend .them,, - .but iwhen-'-the Taits communicated with llr.. Owen, bandmaster pf the Besses, asking liijn v to:''play the : overture, ho replied that it;.was " quite impossible'to play'the orerture'with a "brass band. Yet I played. it_. with/ 136 ' performers; in' - the. Town Hall. in. Sydney on,/ Good Fri3ay night, 1907, with great success. In- addition to my own band," I had ; anltber band of- 44 pieces to assist m the bjg, finale, a chime of bells weighing over a ■ ton and the grand organ. .;. Mind;.'l am : notsaying this in disparagement of : tho Besses, which -I: consider 'was. a very, fine bhhd, out-it indicates that-brass bands cannot attempt the saino class of musio as tho - military band, and consequently do not deservo .tho same encouragement.'- :. t"I don't.- suppose any municipality in Sydney "or elsewhere: could- afford to contribute en6ugh to keep a military: band going, for . themusic, oii'.tlie:.stands-.at..one of my concerts alone represents an expenditure of between £45 and £50. Of my total. strongth, thete is a band of 30 pieceß engaged < permanently at the Glaciatum by. Mr. West. I conduct there as often as possible, and in my absence tho baton is taken by Mr. H. For- : nJan, at one time sub-bandmaster in Colonel Lassetter's Indian regiment—l forget its nilrttber. Mr.' Forman is probably tho best clarinet player in the Commonwealth. v"Do you give-Sunday concertsP" :;."Once a.month. ;Lconducted /-Sunday concerts at tho Town Hall, Sydney, for five years. For ;those -concerts I-had the full • s{fength of; my band, and'one singer, . who always sang to the accompaninlent of the band," \ ' ... ' ■ ■- ? Full Band Accompaniments.-''' ■ \"What, accompanied by a'military, band?" .. "Yes, you might think ;it a novelty to have an accompaniment made up of cornets,-trum-petsj eijjhf trombones, five brass baßses, arid • four string basses, apart-from tho reeds, but wo havo done it with to highest success..: I, claim to be- tho- originator; ofr ; military-band accompaniments to songs. That they aro ef- - fectivo was proved"at-the 'time-'when^they. werd first:: attempted. Mr. Broadhurst, representative for Messrs'.?jEopcte,' and Sons, the; London music publishers,'was in Sydney, • and .so impressed was he with: the idea that ; he c'ommissioiied .mo to ■ arrange tho accom- ■ p&mments.of . two; by .' Golericice Taylor and the otljer,"! ~think, ; wasvib.v Liddle—and- they' Wore'■e '■ played- by the'banil. of {the Grenadier Guards as an accompani-' : to; a 'grcat.rj at'--, ther Eoj-al Albert Hall .. in I '' " London. Groat" ', as ' was' this novelty. : in., accompaniments, it- was capped by my band accompanying Mr. ■ Geo.: Rivera. Allpross,: perhaps" the-'-finfest' violinist in Australia, in Wioniawski's "Cavaiiha'," : Boehm's "Itevorie," • and Handel's "Largo," a performance never beforo i at- :. tempted in the. world. ' -On-that occasion . He'rr.: Gerald vVollmar,-: - the great 'cellist, 1 Signor Rieardi,: and Mi -Staol \now Sydney's ' leading violinist) were, amongst the i audienco,. and. alli.thrce expressed their., delight at the effect produced -. by: tlio accompaniment." ;7.'-i: '/•; v:.;; ; 'V.Ji": ;r : : Sunday Concerts. . "Tell me something about your Sunday concerts." - : '~ ' As you know, an old and antiquated Act says that no charge must be' made to concerts -given on Sunday,. but'l mightitell: you that the' Federal High Court,, following the ruling of ; ,tho Houso ot Lordsv decided that so:long as» no charge was made for admission to-the precmots of; a • building . all accommodation such -as chairs and seats . could-be • charged for. Concerts are given, afternoon and oven- - mg, in 37 halls in London under the auspices ; of, thß, Sunday. Ledguo, and if you look', up • a »y| paper you will find - that the charges for admission-are 10s.' 6d,, 55. : , 2s. 6d r , and Is. -At theso concerts somo of- the . finest artists in the. world -and the esLord Mayor of London, Sir AVilliam Treloar, .is president: of the league. ,'. . \ : "."The Sydney City Coui;cil I by ; a"Wc«nt re-' Eolution, decided not to let'tho hall for Sun- . day concerts, hut at the same time-wore giv- . ing free organ recitals on Sunday afternoons. venture to say that, tho public; would much prefer hearing the overture to (.'Tannhauser,' for example, played by a military band than , on tho organ. ■ " > >■ ■Covernment Takes a Hand. "During the last session; the Wado Government introduced the Halls and EntertainmeM Act, which reserved to the Government ' tae, right to. license all buildings and places entertainments.and-meetinge are given. WhiJft the Bill ivr.s before Parliament my ' : £ a .Y° ,"J, -special pprformanco which 56 out_of the 90 memberß of'.'Parliament at- •' tended, my object: being to allow them to heir' what manner of .music they ; were probably Preventing a. large, section, of the public from e t ri ?®' i n %S Monday following I received a. hote from Chief-Secretary "Wood, asking me to call on him with reference to the Sunday, concert abolition clauso in the bill (then in;..its ; committee stage). After an hout's interview, Mr. \V9od' agreed that: there waß a good deal to be said 011 the educative ad- , vantages of , hearing high-class music—even . a Sunday—and, 'as the outcome, he re- ;; commended that fpower be vested in : the Chief ■■ . Secretary, to grant permission for Sunday, en- ,.: fel'tainments at'.his discretion.'. .The amend- . ' .nient was carried without any opposition, and' is now the law" of the land," < Molba, a Sunday singer. <"I don't suppose the Chief' Secretary will refuse Melbai permission to hold Sunday concerts. When.leaving Australia last year; the' djya said that on her return she intended to ; give special Sunday concerts to enable the goorer people: of the Commonwealth to hear fer; sing. She said something to the effect that she supposed she would get into hot • over- it, but she had satisfied herself ■tnat anything that led-to a bettor knowledge and appreciation of. the divine arts was con-, soling to the spirit. In any-case, many of the Sydney Churches advertise' special or- . ch'estras in connectioiv with their services to draw tho public. Mind you, I object just as 'strongly as anyone.'to. a performance at a Sunday concert singing a rag-time ditty, but .that is not music as I understand it, and good _ music should be welcomed at any timo and in any place," r : :Mr.-do.:Groen leaves' for-Auckland on Saturday, and after spending a w6ftk at Hotorua will return to Sydney/ probably via WellingtoiL. ■